PIVOTAL PLAYER: Kelvin Smith, seen here in Round 1 against High School Old Boys, will be a key man in the backline for Waikohu tomorrow. Picture by Paul Rickard
RUGBY by Grant Miller
THE Waikohu backline will have a settled look at last for their crunch rugby game against OBM at Te Karaka tomorrow.
Waikohu, Lee Bros Shield champions, have started the Poverty Bay club season with a win, a draw and two losses.
They have fought bravely but have done so with a mix-and-match backline in recent weeks.
GT Shearing Waikohu hope those challenges are behind them, as they approach the halfway point of the regular season.
Caleb Lewis and Larry Fleming are expected to pair up in the midfield alongside first five-eighth Kelvin Smith and that should mean the home team are directed with assurance.
Enterprise Cars OBM, however, are second on the points table with three wins from four games and the Poverty Bay selectors rewarded their work ethic by naming 10 of the club’s players in the rep squad.
Waikohu manager Frank Ngatoro said his team would have to be on their game to topple OBM.
“OBM are one of the teams performing well,” Ngatoro said.
“They’re up there with YMP.”
It helps that Waikohu are at home and, although they don’t have a large forward pack, they normally hold their own in the tight.
“It starts up front,” Ngatoro said.
OBM coach Trevor Crosby said he was mindful of the threat posed by the Waikohu backs and his side would need to be up to the mark on defence.
He also expected Waikohu to be “hard and physical up front”.
Unbeaten YMP will be declared winners of the Premier Cup at the end of the round and they play Larsawn Ngatapa at Barry Park in Gisborne tomorrow.
YMP captain and hooker Shayde Skudder, who will celebrate bringing up 100 games for the club’s premier side tomorrow, said the players were working for each other and enjoying their season.
The backline was “firing like hell” and he felt the team didn’t have targets on their backs.
“We’re not the champions.”
Skudder said Ngatapa would be fit and the forwards strong, so the YMP forwards would need to step up.
Ngatapa coach Steve Hickey said his team faced a daunting task against the competition frontrunners.
“Obviously, they’re the form team, setting the pace.”
A few players were carrying niggles.
“We’ll probably rest a couple of guys.”
Although Ngatapa had only two players picked for the Poverty Bay squad, Hickey said the players involved in Town against Country last Saturday “brought a lot of vibes back to training” this week.
Earthwork Solutions High School Old Boys have two wins from four games, one less win than OBM, but they’re just two competition points behind their city rivals because they’ve picked up three bonus points, while OBM have one.
HSOB will play Pirates-GMC at the Oval.
HSOB coach Scott Leighton said Pirates-GMC had shown they were capable of putting points on the board, so his team would need to have their defence in order.
Halfback George Halley is out after suffering an injury in Town versus Country and midfield back Hayden Stuart is unlikely to start.
Stefan Destounis and Tevita Maka will bolster the forward pack and loose forward Tamanui Hill is a chance of returning from injury.
Across the season so far, Pirates-GMC have scored 82 points, which is only 10 less than Ngatapa and 14 less than HSOB.
However, Pirates-GMC have conceded 239 points. Waikohu are the only other team to concede over 100 points — 111.
Pirates-GMC had a strong second half against OBM two weeks ago but it will be hard for them to generate momentum, because of injuries.
Flanker Koro Miringaorangi ruptured an Achilles tendon at training on Tuesday and is probably out for the season.
Fellow flanker Semisi Tagivetaua, who scored a hat-trick of tries for Pirates-GMC against OBM, is also out, with a knee injury.
That will put pressure on Ken Houkamau and Willy Bolingford — both named in the Poverty Bay squad this week — to lead the forward pack.
Player-coach Willie Waitoa is also set to spend more time on the park to cover for the injured players.
The third Pirates-GMC player to make the rep squad, Jacob Leaf, should be full of spark at halfback.
Competition points after four rounds: YMP 19, OBM 13, High School Old Boys 11, Waikohu 6, Ngatapa 2, Pirates-GMC 1.